Pride of Hawaii price reductions

[2cruiseagain]

I booked two balcony guarantee rooms (BE) through an on-line cruise agent back in March for $1,359++ pp. My final payment is due 4/26 and the rates have now gone down by over $200 per person. My on-line agent said there are no guarantees. Even though there is only a $75pp cancel fee at this time, the new rates are for new bookings only. I don’t see why I can’t cancel my current booking and book a NEW booking for the lower rate. Anybody else have experience in these matters? Who should I lean on, the TA or the cruise line?

[Host CMLA]

I booked two balcony guarantee rooms (BE) through an on-line cruise agent back in March for $1,359++ pp. My final payment is due 4/26 and the rates have now gone down by over $200 per person. My on-line agent said there are no guarantees. Even though there is only a $75pp cancel fee at this time, the new rates are for new bookings only. I don’t see why I can’t cancel my current booking and book a NEW booking for the lower rate. Anybody else have experience in these matters? Who should I lean on, the TA or the cruise line?

If you cancel your booking and rebook, that's a new booking. If your TA has a problem with that, cancel the booking and take your money and their commission somewhere else. Book direct or find another TA. But there's no one to lean on. A new booking is a new booking no matter what.

[beachchick]

As of today (and depending on your date), I can tell you with certainty that there are BE guarantees for several cruise dates. At this point, you'll still be ahead by $125 p/p if you cancel and do a new booking. But do it quickly as you are almost out of time. And I agree that you might consider a different TA who doesn't have such a high pre-final payment cancel fee. It's possible that your current TA might waive the fee to cancel and rebook at the lower rate (it is for new bookings only on the sites I checked) if you keep the booking with him/her. Don't lean on the cruise line. You are booked with a TA and that is who the cruise line will deal with. Plus, NCL can't really do anything to help you. It is for new bookings, so you've really got to cancel and start over. I'm sorry I can't direct you to any specific sites, but there are several that have that rate--including NCL's own site I believe.

 

beachchick

[2cruiseagain]

The TA lowered my rates by the full $200.:D He said they had me in BC category and they would have to put me back in BE to do this. So, I'm assuming he canceled and re-booked. No big deal. Thanks for the responses.

[niya305]

I booked two balcony guarantee rooms (BE) through an on-line cruise agent back in March for $1,359++ pp. My final payment is due 4/26 and the rates have now gone down by over $200 per person. My on-line agent said there are no guarantees. Even though there is only a $75pp cancel fee at this time, the new rates are for new bookings only. I don’t see why I can’t cancel my current booking and book a NEW booking for the lower rate. Anybody else have experience in these matters? Who should I lean on, the TA or the cruise line?

 

Good for you! I'm glad it worked out! The t/a probably just didn't want to lose some of the commission & that's probably why they said it wouldn't be possible. Oh well, that's why I always book directly!

[elephant98]

I'm glad it worked out for you! I recently had a similar experience on a cruise that I had booked directly with NCL. The price of my cabin went down by $75 a person about a month before the final payment was due, but I had already made the final payment. NCL rectified my problem by cutting me a $150 check. I don't know if this is their standard practice or not. But, it avoided the sillyness of me cancelling my booking, getting a refund, and then re-booking the same or similar category cabin.